The Extra Leaguer
by Little Ceaser's
Summary: Cody gets some involuntary R&R with the Justice League. The Imperium never knew what hit them. JLU cartoon is used. Rated M for language.
1. Space Squishies

**I have no idea were this came from. First of all, some of the characters motioned are from my other story The Grey Chronicles that is basically an introduction to the characters. Cody is an OC, and if any one reading this is named Cody I apologize.**

_Why here?_ Cody wondered. _Of all the places I could land, why here?_ Blacklght incarnate watched as six people kicked the crap out of an alien fighter squadron. Technically five, as two were flying a plane. And there went the plane's left wing. _I'm startin' to think Lobo hates me._ A bomb had clearly been placed in the engines, set to be triggered when he entered a Pole and a guidance program had dropped him off here. And there was the note that read "_I.O.U a ship."_ Cody glanced back at the little craft. An Eta 2 Actis class fighter, she was Cody's pride and joy. While not beyond repair, it was going to take a while to fix. _Great, just fuckin' great.__Might as well introduce myself if I'm stuck here.__Crap._The group was just mopping up the last of the pods. Cody rubbed at a streak of grease on the "tape" that covered his forearms.

"Who's the rookie in the tiara?" John Stewart, the third Green Lantern of Earth, asked Superman, as the Kryptonian hurled the last one at a mountain side.

"Don't know." He answered as the five fliers landed next to the Batwing and a red streak whizzed across the ground.

"Hey Bats!" Barry Allen, the Flash, skidded to a stop next to the Dark Knight holding the missing wing to Batman's plane. "I think you lost something!" The kid then got an eyeful of the approaching Amazon beauty. Cody could smell the hormones from his position, which was several hundred feet above the future League's. His ship had thankfully stopped smoking a few hours ago, so he could start on basic repairs. It also kept him hidden. Cody's lips twitched as the Flash was shot down with the most innocent rejection to come from a woman.

"Themyscira."

"Huh?"

"It is the home of the Amazons." Hawkgirl said, "I always thought it was a legend but…" she trailed off.

"I assure you it is as real as the ground on which we stand." And, completely unaware of the effect that the skin-tight blue pants of her armor was going to have, the princess bent down pick up a handful of snow "What is this?" she asked.

"That would be snow, miss…"

"I am Diana, princess of the Amazons." Clark nodded and rubbed his cheeks to get rid of the extra blood his face suddenly had. The princess dumped the snow back on the ground and adjusted the sword and shield on her back.

"Someone pinch me, I must be dreaming." Wally then got a super elbow to the side.

"Themyscira is protected by the gods," Diana explained as she gave the speedster a puzzled look, "but I could not idly stand by and watch as your world was destroyed."

"It was lucky that you turned up just then, thanks." Clark said.

"No, not luck." J'onn rumbled, "I telepathically called them here."

"Look I'm usually pretty good with the uptake, but could someone tell please tell me what's goin' on here?" Cody couldn't take any more.

"It means he was talkin' in yer mind ya idiot!" Cody landed with a thud.

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After introductions were made and the yelling died down Clark welded the wing on the Batwing and came back to the group.

"So, J'onn Jonnzz, you have come to warn us?" asked Diana. At the Martian's nod, Flash groaned.

"This is way too weird."

"I've seen stranger things." rumbled John.

"Same here." Cody drawled, "seen a lot of nastier things too." Flash snapped his head up, eager for a story.

"Oooohhh, like what?"

"We encountered them over a thousand earth years ago. We had created a utopia, until they came. No one knew where they came from. But they were determined to take mars for themselves."

_Meteors falling.__Men, women, children, fleeing.__Tall three legged war machines towering over the city._And through J'onn's eyes they saw it.

"We were a peaceful race and killing in any form was an atrocity to us. But we learned the ways of war quickly."

_Bombs thrown.__Urban fighting.__Mass graves.__Public executions._ Cody groaned.

_"__J'onn, be careful.__Flash is just a kid.__Tone it down."_

_"__Understood."_

"We fought for centuries, as all our race had worked for burned down around us."

_A city on fire.__Hundreds of prisoners._

"The Martians fought valiantly, but stood no chance for they were parasites that fed on our psychic energy. As we grew weaker they grew stronger."

_Martians sealed in red pods.__Invaders stealing DNA from Martians._

"They even took our shape shifting abilities."

_Small group of Martians running on a walkway.__Invaders gunning them down one by one._

"Finally, a small group of Martians made one last attack."

_The last takes cover.__Readies a bomb.__Gas erupts.__Opens a chute.__Drops down.__Throws gas bombs down chutes.__Rooms fill up with gas._

"Deep within their stronghold we unleashed a powerful nerve gas that paralyzed them. The attack was successful. Yet the price paid was dear. I am the last Martian." J'onn withdrew from their minds "I sealed their citadel to keep them there. For over five hundred years I stood guard, but while I was in a hibernation cycle the citadel was opened reviving the invaders."

"Wait a second! The astronauts never said they found life on Mars." Flash said, he crossed his arms and pouted "I feel cheated."

"Some stupid politician in Washington probably had it classified. Happens all the time." GL waved a hand dismissively.

"With my race gone the Invader had nothing left to quell their hunger. So they turned to Earth and Humanity." J'onn looked each of the heroes in the eye (except Cody, who was picking his nose). "I barely escaped and came to warn you. While I was being held against my will," J'onn gave Batman a pointed glance "the Invaders sent agents to sabotage Earth's defenses."

"That's why the sabotaged the monitoring network." Batman growled. "So we couldn't see them coming." Cody nodded.

"Makes sense, that way we wouldn't be able to stockpile WMDs. Oh wait, we don't have any." Cody glared at Superman, who sheepishly rubbed his neck.

"Oops."

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"This is Snapper Carr reporting live, from ground zero in Metropolis. The walkers are clearing the area around the impact site." Snapper held his microphone close as soldiers jogged into position around a walker and a tank opened fire on it. "Here we have General Wells for an update." The tank was destroyed by a beam from the walker. "General Wells, the military seems unable to stop any one of these things, why?"

"All of the nuclear missiles have been destroyed and the self-proclaimed protector of mankind has left us to die." The general had nothing more say, scowled, and walked off for a better view of the situation.

"Earlier today, Senator Carter had this to say." The image went from Snapper to Senator Carter who was in a room with dozens of reporters.

"When I first proposed this initiative I had no idea that alien life existed in the universe." He spoke in a clam composed voice which was strange, considering that THE DAMN PLANET IS BEING INVADED! "Now we must stand and fight this new menace with ever fiber in our being to make sure our home stays ours!" The screen switched back Snapper.

"We now have a breaking development, something is moving inside the crater!" the meteor rumbled and brown gas was filtering out of cracks. Red lines worked their way down before dimming and cooling. Suddenly the rock crumbled, and the tendrils of something that was decidedly unfriendly waved in the air. As they rose they conjoined into one massive smokestack like thing shaped vaguely like an "S", red domes dotted it. A boring tool came the first bend and slammed into the ground, a pair of massive red domes pumped on either side of its base. Yellow beams flared from the top, before it began creating a massive cloud high above their heads.

Cody and Flash watched the news report that came from the Batwing's console as the others tried to make a plan.

"What was that?" Wonder Woman asked.

"It's started." J'onn answered. The seven heroes and one lunatic watched as a huge thunder cloud overtook the horizon, lightning came from the top reaching up into the sky. Cody found himself trying to swallow.

"That kind of shit ain't supposed to happen."

"What are they doing?" Hawkgirl asked.

"The Invaders are nocturnal. They are trying to blot out the sun for permanent darkness." J'onn answered.

"Friends of yours, Bats?"

"Not funny." Flash walked to J'onn's side.

"What's the problem?" He asked "can't ya just make some more nerve gas?" The Martian sadly shook his head.

"No I had a sample with me when I came to Earth but it was destroyed when I was captured. It can only be made with a rare Martian plant." The kid visibly deflated.

"Please let someone have a plan B. I'm beggin' ya." Flash glanced at the other heroes.

"We'll have to take out those factories." Diana stated, putting her hands on her hips.

"Lady, this is not a job for a rookie." GL snapped.

"The Amazons are warriors born!" Wonder Woman snarled back. Cody grabbed Flash by the shoulder and ducked behind Superman, dragging the speedster with him. "Want to test me?" The Amazon and the Lantern were about equal height, but if her blade came out of its scabbard that could change. With a sigh, Superman diffused the situation quite easily.

"Let's not fight amongst each other just yet." The Man of Steel gently eased the warriors apart with a hand on each of their shoulders, with an easy smile on his face. "John, we're going to need all hands on deck for this one."

"Fine" the Lantern said, venom dripping off his words "sorry, _Your Highness_." The marine stepped forward and gave a short briefing "tactically, we have several objectives, so we'll need to divde and conquer."

"Dibs on the Amazon." Flash appeared at Wonder Woman's side, and draped an arm around her shoulder. The Amazon's eyes widened and she swallowed, suddenly terrified.

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"You are no fun!" Flash yelled as he sprinted over the ocean. GL flew next to him, carrying Cody along in a green bubble.

"Shut up kid!" Cody yelled back.

"This isn't supposed to be fun. We have our own objective, and you do not need a distraction!" GL spoke rather angrily.

"An' you were scarin' 'er!"

"Whatever!" The speedster yelled, "Let's get this over with!"

In the jungle, the mighty jungle, a smoke maker was boring a very large hole. The little group examined the walker standing guard. Cody scratched at the shorter hair on the side of his head.

"Hey Lantern, can you throw me at one of those red pumping things?" Cody asked.

"Why the hell would I do that?" Instead of answering, Cody shifted his arms into claws and crouched. Lantern blinked, before creating a springboard. Cody stepped on it and was hurtling through the air like an insane cat. The red material parted like butter under his claws, and then he was inside carving up the Invaders. Lantern frowned; he'd have to ask the Guardians just what the hell this . . . Cody was. "Alright, now here's the plan," John began "first we-"

"What plan? Let's just kick some ass!" The speedster was down the cliff face before the Lantern could continue. John sighed.

"God damn it." Flash raced to the walker's legs and whistled.

"Hey! Over here!" The walker turned and fired a beam at the speedster. And it missed. So did the other two as the Flash raced by them. Then he tripped on a rock, although a debate would rage for years between the two of them as to whether this was an actual rock or a "demon straight from hell" that had it out for the speedster. Flash flailed as he skidded straight into a large mud puddle before poking his head out and creating a huge bubble on his face. GL groaned.

"Idiot."

Inside the boring machine, Cody was having _fun_. This meant breaking walkways with his bare hands and crushing everything that looked important around the boring mechanism.

"Yeah! Come closer so I can cut yer jelly arms off!" His bladed arm whirled in patterns as he created white puddles in the machine. Then, for the hell of it, he shifted to his hammerfists. The sheer shockwaves of them turned dozens of the invaders to a pulp. They worked on consoles too. With a grin, he cut his way out through the second red bellow and hurled himself at one of the alien walkers. "LEEEEROY JEEEEENNNNNKIIIIIIIINS!" Behind him, the boring pole ground to a stop. The Prototype sank his blade into the armor and sprinted up the long, neck-like trunk, green smoke spilling out as he went. Below him, John began chewing out Wally.

"You don't jump headfirst into a combat situation damn it! That's a surefire way to get you and your teammates killed!" The Lantern yelled, "It gives away your position!" GL used his ring to scrape the mud off of the Flash with a construction that looked vaguely like a razor. Behind them, Cody latched his whipfist to a walker's leg, looped it around the other two separately, planted his feet and retracted the tendril, toppling the walker. Before it could rise, he leapt into the air, shifted to the hammerfists and dropped straight down at the junction between the trunk and the head. When he landed, the weaker armor covering the joint cracked like a nut. Cody laughed hysterically, while running at full speed, and repeating the process on the third and last walker.

"You ladies done yet? I just did the whole thing by myself!"

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_Wearing black in Egypt is a horrible idea_, Batman reflected. The two walkers accompanying the factory made slow circles it as the Dark Knight and Amazon Princess took cover next to the Sphinx's feet. Batman ducked back into cover as a walker came to close for comfort.

"Hiding like cowards is not the Amazon way!" _Oh God, I can't take much more of this._

"They have a weakness. I just need to find it. Then we attack." J'onn rose up through the ground, his eyes glowing slightly.

"I have scouted the outer walls. There are no openings."

"Then we shall make our own!" With a battle cry, Diana flew straight at the factory. J'onn made to follow her, before Batman stopped him with an out stretched arm.

"Wait, let's see what she can do." The Amazon flew into the air and drew her golden lasso, hooked a walker's leg then looped around the other two before drawing it tight, toppling the machine. She took off again and hurtled at the factory, smashing straight through the wall.

"There's your opening." She said, somewhat contemptuously.

Batman raised a brow behind his mask, "Impressive." J'onn glanced at the Dark Knight. Something deep in the human's mind had stirred, but J'onn had no idea what it was. They followed, Batman grappling up to the "entrance" that Diana had made. She stood just past the entrance, blocking energy shots from the Invaders. The Amazon planted her feet, gauntlets held at the ready. The three watched as the aliens ran deeper into the complex.

"They run like cowards!" She cried "What are you waiting for?" She ran after them and J'onn followed, but Batman paused. The Dark Knight glanced over his shoulder and examined the large hole that the Amazon had made.

_"__J'onn, I have a plan"_

_"__How did you . . .?__Never mind, what is it?"_

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Hawkgirl pounded on a walker's turret, making sure it was dead. Behind her, Superman tore off a walker's foot and used the pointed end as a battering ram, hurling it at the factory's wall.

"Hawkgirl, follow me!" And they both shot into the factory, mace and heat vision at the ready. Landing on a walk way the Man of Steel started walking along.

"Keep your eyes peeled." Superman said.

"Oh? I was going to walk down through here blindfolded." Clark's lips twitched upward in a smile. They kept walking, and the Thanagarian ducked on impulse when blaster fire hit a pillar two feet from her face.

"Stay back! I'll-" Hawkgirl shot past him with a battle cry and smashed what looked like a platoon of the Invaders with her mace. Superman ducked as one flew towards him and splattered on the wall.

"What?" She asked almost innocently. He shook his head and flew past her, chuckling.

"Come on, we should keep moving." They kept walking and came into a room. And then the door behind them sealed. A green gas started venting into the room. Superman took a sniff, and smelled the heavy duty sedatives in the mixture. Of course, with his diaphragm, this meant he sucked in enough gas to kill an elephant. The Man of Tomorrow coughed, and involuntarily took another breath. He turned and found Hawkgirl passed out on the floor. And then everything went black.

_Crap._

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The energy bolts the Invaders fired were casually defected off of Diana's gauntlets, but the sheer volume of fire pushed her back.

"They've blocked us off again!" She said.

"It's like they know what we're thinking!" Batman growled._ "__Get ready."_

_"__Understood."_Batman drew an explosive batarang, activated it and hurled it at a pillar.

"Any ideas J'onn?" He asked. The Martian's eyes glowed. "J'onn!"

"Superman and Hawkgirl have been captured."

"What? Are you sure?" The Amazon asked. A nod.

"I can feel it." J'onn pointed down a corridor. "This way!" They hurtled down the passage, dodging the few bolts that the Invaders fired. They came to a large room, and Diana and J'onn flew up into an opening in the wall, Batman followed, grappling after them. They turned a corner, and Diana spared a glance back.

"We lost them." She sighed in relief. The Dark Knight drew a set of electrified brass knuckles and primed them.

"For the moment." he growled.

"Look!" J'onn cried. He pointed to a large red orb sitting on a black pedestal. It was easily ten feet tall, with a dark form in the middle and vaguely egg shaped. Another black tube was attached to the upper point of it. Upon closer inspection they could see that is was actually a force field suspending a crystal in midair. Dozens of the Invaders worked at consoles surrounding it, monitoring levels, and possibly making status updates. "It is the central core!"

"How do we shut it down?" Batman asked.

"That crystal powers this plant. If we remove it, the plant will shut down." He glanced at them, "I'll need a diversion."

"Got it." Batman threw a batarang, and it sliced straight through a pipe like a knife through butter. A black liquid came from the cut pipe in a torrent. The soldiers working below it fell over themselves trying to get away from it. Diana grabbed another and pulled, causing gas to blanket another portion. Meanwhile, J'onn phased through the floor, on his way to the console next to the containment field. Batman leapt off the ledge and punched a soldier with his knuckle duster. Said soldier exploded from the voltage. J'onn removed the crystal and allowed himself some enjoyment at the explosions that rocked the factory. Unfortunately, a bolt from a rifle caught him in the side. The Martian flew over the edge and down to the next level, the crystal landing next to him.

"J'onn!" Diana yelled, and impaled the two soldiers that tried to tackle her with her fists. She threw them aside, and flew through another. She picked him up, and stomped on the crystal, shattering it.

"Get him out! Now!" Batman yelled, throwing a soldier into another. A pair of them jumped down and held Diana at gunpoint. She threw her tiara at them, which cut them both in half before snatching it out of the air. She then flew down a large corridor, passing a soldier at console who pressed the closing button for the door at the end of it. Batman swung after them, his cape billowing behind him. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough to get through the door before it closed. He pounded on it with his knuckle duster but it had no effect. The soldiers closed in on him weapons at the ready.

"Batman!" Diana ran to the door, and watched as it pulsed from the energy fire. "No!"

_"__Good luck." _ J'onn sent to the Dark Knight. The Amazon drew her blade and stabbed through the membrane, intent on carving her way through. The Martian gently grabbed her shoulder.

"There is nothing we can do." He spoke quietly, and the Amazon nodded sadly.

"Let us go." She said.

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Several hundred miles away, a technician was working on a monitoring dish.

"Finally," he said "was starting to think I'd never get this damn thing working."

"Did you hook it in right?" Came a voice from his radio.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"The readings are through the roof!" Said the scientist in the control room, "Something's coming into the atmosphere. Something big."

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"The government has confirmed that another object is approaching the planet from space." Snapper said. "They believe it's about five times the size of the first landers. Senator Jay Allen Carter had this to say: In the face of this new development, we are calling on the public to remain calm."

The glass in front of the little television was smashed by a man with a pipe.

"Always wanted one of these!" he said to his friend.

"But what if we get caught?"

"Who the hell cares? The planet's is gettin' taken over by fuckin' aliens!" Another, had spray painted the words "The End is Here" onto a wall. People ran down the street in panic.

Diana and J'onn stood on the roof of a building high above, watching.

"Perhaps Mother was right about mankind, they are little more than animals." Said Diana as a man smashed a window with a trash can.

"Do not judge them too harshly. They are merely afraid." Down below a pair of construction workers called for help.

"Hey! There're some kids under here! Someone help!" the broken arch was enveloped with green light.

"How about this!" Green Lantern moved the heavy stone out of the way and uncovered a pair of kids cowering in fear. Across the street, Cody ripped a bat from a would-be looter's hands and snapped it.

"Keep movin' wise guy." With an easy leap, Cody jumped to the wall of Diana and J'onn's building before sprinting upwards, followed by the Flash. "Sorry fer takin' so long, but them people needed help." Cody drawled. "What's up?"

"Superman and Hawkgirl have been captured! They have been imprisoned somewhere in that thing!" Diana pointed to the factory not very far away, still pumping smoke into the atmosphere.

"Whoa."

"Where's Batman?" GL asked.

"He has fallen."

"Aw shit!"Cody swore, and kicked the edge of the roof, cracking it.

"Bats is gone?" Flash asked quietly. Both J'onn and Diana nodded.

"Dammit!" Lantern growled "Two of our heaviest hitters are gone. The rest of us are going to have to be careful."

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"Why're we doing this again?"

"Kid, just shuddup." The group was taking cover next to the factory.

"They are still in there right?" GL asked. J'onn nodded.

"They are, but we must act. The Imperium is coming." The Martian said.

"Huh?"

"The supreme intelligence that controls the Invaders. We have met before."

"We can trust him right?" Flash asked.

"Shuddup kid." Cody growled.

"Here we go." GL said. "Flash, make a diversion. Diana, watch my back."

"Would you trust an amateur?"

"No. Cody, hold still." John picked up Cody with a green bubble and hurled him towards the factory, the others hurrying after. Cody smashed through the wall to the factory, yelling to raise the dead. Flash zipped between the legs of the walker, picked up a rock, and hit the walker right in the side. It turned and found the speedster waving his arms for attention.

"Tag! You're it!" The speedster then blew the raspberry. The walker fired and missed, repeatedly and with extreme prejudice. "Missed, ya jackass!" The walker walked to him, and attempted to stomp on him. Its foot was blown off, and the walker toppled, then exploded. Flash happily waved at it. "Bye, bye!"

The three fliers landed next to the factory and flew into an older hole that had been made before they had gotten there. As they flew, the boring pole ground to a stop, and the red bellows at the base of the pole exploded. Both J'onn and Diana paused when at the sudden noise.

"What are you two waiting for?" GL asked "If we don't move, Cody'll tear this whole damn thing around our heads!" They followed him in and down a corridor. "Where are they?" J'onn's eyes glowed.

"This way!" He answered. They landed and Flash breezed up to them.

"Hope I didn't keep ya!" He said happily. Suddenly, the structure rocked.

"Great Hera! What was that?" Diana gasped.

"That would be our insane friend." John answered. Suddenly they, heard aliens speaking and they snapped into cover. A pair of soldiers was guarding a door down the corridor.

"Wait here." The Martian rumbled, before shifting into a soldier himself. He ran to the soldiers, saying something in their language then pointed down the hall, towards the group. When the soldiers found them, the aliens raised their weapons. Behind them, J'onn raised through the floor, put his hands through them, and solidified. They yelled in pain, and J'onn let them fall to the floor. "Come." He said.

"Does he scare you guys too?" Flash asked.

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High above, Cody ran rings around the soldiers. These idiots had perfected any gun nut's dream. A gun you didn't need to reload. Cody was in heaven, dual wielding assault rifles.

"You people are idiots!" He yelled, pirouetting while firing on full auto. He jumped up away from the crowd that was surrounding him and kept firing until the weapons exploded. He shifted his arms into claws, hacked another pair of soldiers into puddles, grabbed their weapons and kept going. Eventually, the soldiers thinned out, and Cody relaxed, if only slightly. He tossed the now useless guns away and grabbed a new pair, strapping them to his back with tendrils of biomass.

"Drop those."

"Holy shit!" Cody yelled "you ain't dead! An' hell no. I got a collection that needs buildin'."

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J'onn, Green Lantern, Diana, and Flash crossed a walkway to another corridor.

"They are close." The Martian said. They came to a door, and J'onn pressed his hand to it. "They are behind here." In response Diana set herself against it and began to push. With a groan of effort, the Amazon pushed with all her might before shaking her head.

"It's no use. I'm not strong enough."

"Stand back." Said John and he raised his ring. A green laser shot out and began to burn a hole through the door.

"Hurry, they don't have much time." J'onn said. John cut a circle and Diana kicked it inwards. Inside, they found Superman and Hawkgirl suspended by their feet.

"Good God." Both of the captured heroes moaned.

"Wait!" J'onn said "Something is wrong." Flash glanced over his shoulder at the Martian and did not see Hawkgirl's eyes open glowing red. Diana gasped as Superman opened his own eyes, and the door warped its self back into a whole, sealing them in. Holes appeared in the walls, and green gas filled the room. They all coughed as the sedatives did their work, but soon they were all unconscious. The alien duplicates detached themselves from the ceiling and gathered up the heroes, dragging them deeper into the plant.

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They woke in what was an auditorium, restrained by a hard white gel.

"Everyone okay?" Superman asked.

"Head hurts lots." Flash moaned.

"Earth's mightiest heroes. How pathetic." An alien stood over them, its voice strangely familiar. It then shifted its form into good ol' Senator Jay Allen Carter.

"You!" 'Carter' grinned.

"Unfortunately the real Carter never came home. I took his place."

"And you had me weaken Earth's defenses with your damn peace act!" A laugh from 'Carter'

"You wanted it so badly you took no time to consider the consequences. Because of you, the humans were helpless against us."

"It's not over yet!"

"Of course it is." The ceiling above them peeled back, exposing the clouded sky. High above, an enormous ship hovered over them. A pod came from its belly and descended to the opening above them. "All hail the Imperium!" 'Carter' yelled. Every one of the invaders bowed at the waist as grey smoke billowed from the pod and dispersed to reveal a large purple squid-like being. It had green fluid flowing through it, and its tentacles writhed in the air as it floated toward them.

_"__J'onn J'onzz."_ It spoke in their minds. _"__It's been a long time."_ The gel that held them back shifted and carried J'onn to the Imperium. Two soldiers held long staves, the ends sparking and stabbed the Matian with them. The Martian yelled in pain before shifting back to his original form. _"__Much better.__You have been defiant for centuries." _

_"__And I will never bow before you or any other!"_

_"__Then I shall finish what should have been done long ago.__Killing you."_The thing's tentacles whipped out and dug into J'onn's skin. He was then drawn forward and forced into the thing's bulbous body. Flashes of light illuminated the Martian as he was tortured.

"Let him go! You ugly bastard!" Superman roared.

_"__Submit J'onn J'onzz."_

"Never!"

_"__Why do you resist?" _the thing asked _"__Embrace us."_

"NO!"

_"__You have been defeated.__Surrender."_

_"__Have I?"_

_"__You're hiding something.__A secret deep within your mind.__What is it?__Speak!"_

_"__Do I sense fear?"_

_"__What are you hiding?"_

"Now!" Every being within hearing distance then heard the most disturbing battle cry to ever be used.

**"****IT'S A GIANT JELLEH FEEISH!"**Cody hurtled toward the Invaders like a razor sharp cannon ball, and the containment field around an ion crystal ruptured from an explosion. The smoke revealed the Goddamned Batman.

"No way!"

"Where the Hell did he come from?"

"I mentally shielded him so he couldn't be found!" J'onn yelled. Batman slapped a small device on the ion crystal and the black lines on it turned blue. The red domes dotting the chamber walls filled with blue instead of red.

"What have you done?" 'Carter' yelled before he was cut down by the tornado of blades that called itself Cody.

"Reversed the ion charge." Batman blinked and realized he had spoken on impulse.

_"__Destroy the crystal!"_ the Imperium ordered. Batman grappled away.

A blue beam came from the top of the plant, forcing the smoke away and clearing the sky. The soldiers yelled in pain and fear as Cody cut down the ones that could not get away fast enough. The Imperium bubbled and hissed when the sunlight hit it and J'onn forced his way out, grabbing the tentacles and hauling it into the light, out from under the shadow pod.

_"__No!"_

"You live underground and shun the light. Why? Does it burn your skin?" the thing yowled in pain. Flash swallowed.

"I thought I burned bad." He said. Batman landed next to Diana and pulled a small blowtorch from his belt, working on her restraints.

"UV rays" Batman said "they're from deep space, and have no resistance to the sun's radiation." Superman nodded, and began to cut his way free with his heat vision.

"So you found their weakness after all." Diana said "I'm impressed."

_"__Destory them!"_ The Imperium yelled.

"Shuddup space squid!" With gusto, Cody impaled it on a massive blade that had replaced his arm at the moment, before tearing his arm free. Diana blocked a shot that would have taken Batman's head off with her gauntlet. The Dark Knight nodded his thanks. Superman peeled up part of the platform that the aliens were shooting from to create some cover for the non-invincible members of the group. He then carefully cut Hawkgirl free who then broke GL's ringed hand loose, as Diana broke Flash's feet free. Hawkgirl flew off, dodging shots, before knocking the aliens to the floor with her mace. Flash tore guns out of their hands as he raced by. Green Lantern crushed them with various constructions from his ring. Superman smashed holes in the walls. Diana helped him, and GL joined in as well. "Everbody run!" Cody yelled as the plant came apart.

"No!" Superman yelled, "Not without them!" The Kryptonian pointed to several red pods that held people inside. Superman grabbed two people. "Flash, grab someone!" The speedster zoomed over and grabbed two people groaning when he felt the slime covering them.

"That had better come out!"

"Shuddup kid!" Cody roared as he grabbed the last one. "This place is comin' down!" They gathered the people into a cluster and Green Lantern covered them with a green bubble. He carried them outside followed by Superman with Flash and Diana with Batman. Cody punched a hole in the wall and jumped out, Hawkgirl flew after him, and J'onn merely flew through the wall. They landed and watched as the plant exploded from the inside out. "So," Cody asked, "What're we doin' tomorrow?"

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"This is Snapper Carr. In the aftermath of the Metropolis Meltdown, most of the invaders have left Earth. Superman and a team of other heroes have driven out the remaining aliens." The screen went to footage of Wonder Woman toppling a walker, "Helping to restore order around the world." The screen showed Cody massacring a squad of aliens attacking a town, Green Lantern destroying a smoke factory, and Hawkgirl smashing a walker's turret. "Despite this victory, some are that we need to keep our eyes open. Just in case the invaders return."

"We got lucky this time. What will we do it they ever come back?" General Wells said.

_Click_

Batman turned off the monitoring system of the Batcave, leaned back in his chair and put a hand on his chin, thinking.

"If I may say so Master Bruce, this Cody fellow is quite the ruffian. I believe you should keep an eye on him." Alfred Pennyworth said beside him, before Batman shook his head.

"Cody's loyal to the bone, and whatever he is now, he was once human. I'm fairly sure he was a soldier." Bruce gestured at footage of Cody fighting off aliens that had been captured by the cowl's cameras. "The only problem is that he holds nothing back in combat. And from the looks of it, he'd put his teammates first, before any civilian in the crossfire."

"Some would find that admirable."

"I don't."

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"Incredible." High above in the atmosphere, there was a satellite. Superman looked out the large window at the beautiful view of Earth. "Do your stockholders know about this Bruce?" The Kryptonian asked.

"A little project hidden in the aerospace R and D budget. No one will notice."

"That would be a no, then." Clark chuckled.

"This Watchtower will act as an alarm system, and assist in detecting other threats from space."

"And it's got food!" Flash, Diana and Cody came from the elevator. Diana and Flash both held a Styrofoam cup with a straw in them. Cody was scowling.

"No beer? Ya gotta be shittin' me!"

"Iced mocha?" Flash held the proffered cup towards Superman, who decline with a shake of the head. Beside him, Diana took a drink. Then she emptied the cup in one draught.

"These are good! May I have another?" Flash grinned.

"You can have whatever you want!" This earned him a super elbow.

"Nice place." John said as he and Hawkgirl floated down towards them. "But what does it have to do with us?"

"I used to think I could protect the whole world on my own." Superman said. "But I was wrong." He leaned against the window.

"Don' break that." Cody said dryly, "I'm the only one here who doesn't need air." Everyone ignored him. "'Course, I'd probably burn up on reentry." They still ignored him. "While shittin' rainbows."

"_Anyway,_ I believe that together, we can keep the world safer than any one of us could alone." Superman turned back to them. "Will you join me?" Slowly, they all started to nod, except Batman. Because he's Batman.

"One condition," Cody said, "I want alcohol."

"Alright, alright." Superman said. "Batman? Will you join us?"

"No. I'm not a people person." He growled. Superman rolled his eyes.

"So," Cody asked "what do we call ourselves?" The Man of Steel thought for a moment.

"The Justice League. We'll call ourselves the Justice League."

"That is the cheesiest line I have ever heard."


	2. We Need A Flashlight part 1

"Order! We will have order!" The alien had three horns, two on either side of its face and one on its forehead. He had orange skin, broad shoulders, a damn tail, and a suit of armor that was traditional to his caste.

"SILENCE!" The large view screen in front of the stands glowed with light, effectively shutting the masses up. They all rose as a metallic face appeared on screen. "This high tribunal is now convened. Never before have so many put aside their differences and come together in pursuit of a single goal." It was undoubtedly masculine with glowing yellow eyes and a heavy jaw line. It seemed to perpetually glare at the spectators. Two others appeared alongside it. One was feminine and the other, while still masculine, was not as aggressive as the one in the middle.

"But never before has there been a crime so heinous or vast that it had the power to unite in both grief and revulsion." The spectators sat as one. The passive face continued.

"We are gathered here today to seek justice." The prosecutor tapped a combination of buttons on his console and his platform floated to the view screen.

"Where is the accused?" Asked the aggressive one. The prosecutor bowed his head in respect and answered.

"Unfortunately, he's still at large." He gestured at a gray circle on the floor. The faces looked at each other.

"Manhunters. Step forward." The Manhunters were huge. Each was over seven feet tall, blue feet and hands, with a small rod grasped in their right hand. They had white faces, and a gray band around the base of their throats. They marched forward in synch, goose-stepping to the podium.

"This is no ordinary criminal," the passive face says. "Finding him and bringing him back will involve extreme peril. Are you prepared for that?"

"No man escapes the Manhunters." The leader spoke with a monotone voice. His subordinates repeated the phrase in unison.

"NO MAN ESCAPES THE MANHUNTERS!"

"Show us an image of the accused." The leader said.

"He's a native of the planet Earth." The prosecutor said. He tapped a button. A beam of light came from the ceiling and displayed a hologram. A Green Lantern by the name of John Stewart.

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John walked down the streets of Detroit, clad in a leather jacket to ward off the cold and dark sunglasses. It was simply amazing what people didn't see if they weren't looking for it. He glanced into a diner and saw the people inside watching the television as a basketball game played on. He glanced into a small corner store and watched as a teen held the cashier at gunpoint.

"Come on!" The teen yelled. The cashier pushed a stack of bills over the counter and the thug grabbed them. He ran out, jumped in his car, and drove off. John sighed and stepped into the road behind the car. He pulled his ringed hand out of his pocket and grabbed the rear tire. The thug tried to get away and stepped on the gas. John grunted from the effort and surrounded the car in green light, hoisting it into the air and slamming it back down. He did it again and the hood, trunk, and driver's door popped open from the force. The thief ran out and was surrounded by a green bubble. The cashier ran out and found bills raining on him. That's right, John Stewart made it rain. The cashier caught the money with his apron and John let the boy fall to the ground. John let the green energy dissipate and kept walking. A basket ball bounced in front of him and John's hand whipped out and caught it.

"Hey man! Throw it back!" A child stood in a basketball court and wave for his ball. He took a shot at the goal only for the ball to bounce off the rim.

"Once upon a time you could do that with your eyes closed." An older black man in a black and gold jacket walked to John. He had gray hair and a mustache, with twinkling eyes. He wore a white hat on his head,

"Mr. McGee?" The Lantern asked.

"You're not in my class any more John. Call me Al." The old man grinned.

"Game's a bit rusty." John laughed, and they shook hands as the child ran to them.

"Christian here could give you some pointers." Al chuckled, and laid a hand on the boy's shoulder. "He's my grandson."

"That so?"

"You've been away a long time."

"It might be too long."

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"So you were a cop on Thangar?" The Flash asked. He sat on the ledge eating, as Hawkgirl carefully repaired the circuitry.

"Detective." Hawkgirl corrected.

"What's it like there?"

"The same as anywhere else. We find the bad guys and we catch them."

"What about when you're not gettin' the bad guys?"

"What about it?"

"Is there a Hawkboy anywhere?" She grinned at him.

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"The fuck is that?" Cody wondered. He thumbed the intercom button. "Hey guys, there's somethin' on the radar. It looks like some angry wasps." Flash breezed up to him, having taken the stairs, Hawkgirl came from the elevator and J'onn flew through the floor. "Where's Di, Bats and GL?"

"Di's dealing with flooding in India. Supes is messin' with an earthquake." Flash answered, "God only knows what Bats is doin'. We'll try GL later."

"We should intercept them." J'onn rumbled.

"Sweet." Cody said "I'll take my bird an' piss'em off."

"We shall follow in a Javelin and head them off." Cody nodded at the plan and took his legs off the console to stand. Cody and Flash ran to the stairs. Flash ran down them, Cody merely jumped over the rail and caught himself just before he landed. Hawkgirl flew after them and J'onn went through the floors, again. Cody had begged Superman shamelessly to get him to bring the fighter up. In his free time, Cody had repaired in and got it back to fighting shape. Now, he hopped into the cockpit, primed the engines and took off. The Javelin followed the much smaller craft.

"Hey Cody!" The radio came to life

"Yeah?"

"We tried GL, but he wasn't answering."

"Crap."

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"An' real short, almost shave here, but leave more on top." Christian said, pointing to the back of his head. The child pointed at John's own hair, which was cut to military standards "Like his." This was vetoed by Al.

"The usual." Christian moaned. John grinned.

"Looks like you got your hands full." He laughed.

"He's smart, impatient, and headstrong. He reminds me of you." John's face darkened.

"I hope not."

"John, you'll always have friends here. What's wrong?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A man tried to warm his hands in the frigid air. He froze as a beam of golden light appeared in front of him. Three Manhunters marched through the streets looking for their target.

"Stop." They complied, for the moment. Martian Manhunter floated down in front of them, followed by Cody who glided down from his fighter, and Shayera, who was carrying Flash. "What do you want here?" The Martian asked. The Manhunters scanned them and brushed past the leaguers.

"Hey! Greenie was talkin' to ya!" Cody reached out and grabbed the lead one's shoulder. Its staff extended and he pointed it at Cody. "Whatcha gonna do? Beat me with a sti-" The Manhunter fired his weapon, Cody found himself sailing away, before slamming into a building. "ASS! HOLE!" Cody pulled himself out of the rubble and sprinted down the street, intent on the leader. He dodged and weaved as it fired while his fellow leaguers attacked the other two. Cody smashed into its chest, knocked off its feet and started punching. The damn thing hit him in the face, and Cody shifted to his hammerfists, pounding on its head. J'onn jumped at the leader but received an electric shock. Hawkgirl and Flash worked well together, he buzzing around the android, almost like a wasp, she trying to bash its head in when it was not looking. Cody snarled at the android and forced his through the gray band around its neck as he fended off its stave with the other hand. Suddenly, Cody found their position reversed and the muzzle of the staff gun pointed at his head. The tip became a giant taser, Cody's eyes widened in panic.

"Hey! Get off him!" A hand suddenly grabbed the Manhunter's shoulder and the android was wrenched off. Superman then fucking _tossed _it at a building. Cody raised his head off the ground.

"Thought you were dealin' with an earthquake." He said, accepting the offered hand.

"It was just a four point oh."

"Oh, sure, that ain't a big deal at all."

"Now, will one of you tell me what's happening?"

"We don't have a fuckin'-LOOK OUT!" Cody shoved the Man of Steel out of the way and took a high powered energy blast to the chest. To Superman, the world stood still. The blast slammed into Cody, who screamed in pain. He tracked it back to the source, the android's staff. In a microsecond, Superman scanned the android for any signs of life. Finding none, he zipped over to it and put a hand into its chest. He then tore out the power cell. This all happened in two hundredths of a second. Cody sighed in relief, and caught the staff when Kal threw it to him.

"Let me guess," The Kryptonian said, "that's going in the collection?" Cody chuckled weakly.

"You know it." An explosion rocked the streets. "Aw shit!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"What was that?" Al asked franticly, peeking out the barber shop's window.

"Stay here!" John yelled. He drew his ring and they watched as the uniform of the Green Lantern Corps took the place of his clothes. He flew out the shop's door.

"Awesome!" Christian yelled. "Could he do that in high school?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Two to five. Five leaguers and two Manhunters. This was bad odds. For the Manhunters. The remaining Manhunters ready their staves and Superman's eyes began to glow. A green wall formed between the two groups, and the blasts of energy slammed into it.

"Stop!" John landed next to them and let the wall dissipate.

"'Bout time you got here." Cody growled, leaning on the staff. Flash grinned.

"Better late than never." The speedster said happily. John turned to the Manhunters and walked to them. The entire team paled (except for Cody, who was picking his nose and didn't change color anyway).

"You are the Green Lantern known as John Stewart?" The lead Manhunter asked.

"I am."

"Your ring." With a resigned look, John slid the greatest weapon in the universe off of his hand, and put it in the Manhunter's palm.

"John?" Superman asked.

"What are you doing?" Flash yelped.

"Stay out of this!" That did not cut it for Cody, who growled and lowered himself into a crouch.

"You will come with us." The Manhunters grabbed an arm and placed cuffs on them before they disappeared in a ray of golden light.

"Aw hell. Now what?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The Manhunters' ship desended through the atmosphere of Ajuris 5. The crowds surrounded the landing pad like piranhas around a cow. The ship's walk ramp descended, and John walked down it, with a Manhunter on either side.

"Welcome to Ajuris 5, John Stewart." The lead Manhunter said. "Don't expect your stay to be a pleasant one." A gray half-dome floated to the pad, and John and the Manhunters stepped onto it.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

On Oa, the Guardians of the Universe watched the entire thing unfold.

"What now?" One asked.

"With any luck, this matter won't require our attention." Krona, the eldest of their race answered.

"And if it does?"

"I don't need to tell you how much we've gained because of the Corps diversity. But sometimes it forces us to make sacrifices." They turned back to the green orb in front of them and watched the progressing situation.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The crowds roared at John, and no small amount of alien veggies were thrown at him as he flew towards the dome where the judges were. A small group of Green Lanterns stood in front of the door. Galius Zed scowled at the human.

"He was the best of us." Galius said. "That was for sure, but now. . . " He trailed off. John walked to them.

"Galius," he said, greeting each one of them in turn. "Arkkis, Kilowog, Larvox, Tomar. Good to see you."

"I wish I could say the same Stewart." Arkkis growled. Galius floated up in front of him.

"You're a disgrace to the Corps." He snapped. John winced.

"Get me out of here." He said to the Manhunters. They escorted him into the building, one shoulder checking Arkkis as he passed.

"Hey!" The lantern yelled. He scowled and brushed his shoulder "Stupid robot." The Manhunter turned toward him but was stopped by its leader.

"No," the leader said, "Not yet."

On the roof, various alien criminals stood, imprisoned by rings of white energy. The Manhunter with John pointed to a spot for the human and planted the butt of its staff on the ground. The weapon started to spark, and a force field rose from the floor, surrounding John.

"What's next?" The human asked.

"Your trial begins soon. If I had been programmed with emotions, I'd almost feel sorry for you." The android walked away, and John was left alone. He gazed up at the stars, and wished he was home.

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Across the universe, J'onn felt John's despair from where he was standing in the League's conference room.

"I sense turmoil and a heavy heart." The Martian said sadly.

"You are jus' one fuckin' ray o' sunshine, ya know that?" Cody snapped as he carefully dissected the staff's innards, trying not to shock himself.

"He's looking at stars." J'onn said not bothering to answer Cody.

"But which ones?" Superman asked he flew to the map of the universe they had. He carefully touched the buttons and brought up several star charts that John himself had given them.

"There." J'onn pointed.

"Ajuris 5." Cody read off the display, "So, how're we gonna get there?"

"We'll take the Javelin."

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"Why would he give them his ring?" Hawkgirl wondered. "It still doesn't make sense."

"Does anyone understand what he does all the time?" Cody asked.

"John is a bit on the strange side." Superman admitted.

"I'm starting to think that all you humans are." Cody laughed.

"Me an' the kid here have a bet goin' ta see if them rings the Lanterns wear cause brain damage." The Thangarian looked over her shoulder.

"What's the pot?" Cody scratched his chin.

"Couple hundred." Superman sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Begin landing procedure." He said. A bolt of laser fire slammed into the Javelin's shields.

"Holy shit!" Flash yelled, before flushing bright crimson, as three fighters flew out of the clouds in front of them.

"What the hell?" Cody shouted as he furiously powered up the weapon systems.

"They aren't responding to our signal!" Flash yelled as he tapped out commands at his console.

"It's clear what they want. I say we give it to them!" Hawkgirl reached of the firing controls.

"No! We can't just start a war! Cody, turn those off!" Superman pulled her hand away from the button.

"Fly then, goddamit!" Cody yelled as the Javelin twisted out of the way of another volley.

"Flash, Cody, take the controls." The two non-fliers gaped as the three that could walked to the back of the craft, before hurrying to take their places. The back hatch opened and they flew out over the city. Superman used his heat vision to destroy a fighter's weapons and stomped on its engines sending it out into the sky. J'onn let a fighter fly through him, before smashing out the back. Hawkgirl dodged the shots, slowed down just long enough for the craft to fly under her, and slammed her mace into the back of it, sending the fighter careening out of control.

"Hawkgirl!" Superman admonished, as he flew past after the fighter.

"What?" She asked. "Oh, that." The fighter plummeted toward the city, and Superman broke the sound barrier as he kept up to it. Kal grabbed the belly of it and pushed upward. When he had it under control, he carefully set it down in a plaza and put out the fire it had with his frost breath.

Meanwhile, the Javelin careened through the city scraping the sides of buildings and generally barely staying in one piece.

"Mother of God, boy! Are ya tryin' ta kill us?" Cody clenched the armrests as the ship clipped another building.

"I don't know how to fly this thing!"

"Pull up, damnit, pull up!" The ship streaked towards a landing pad and screeched to a halt. "Get out of that chair."

"'Kay." They walked to the ramp and waited as it opened. "Well they say that every landing you walk away from is a go-" They found themselves staring down the barrels of at least two dozen alien weapons. The aliens opened fire with guns that looked vaguely like Earth weaponry. The guns had a butt that the aliens rested against their shoulders, but the barrel and muzzle had a curved top and a flat bottom. Cody, being Cody, couldn't resist the urge to reach out and grab a pair. The aliens then started shooting.

"Get in the Javelin!"

"Right!" Cody strapped the guns to his back with tendrils of biomass and set about beating the alien police officers into unconsciousness. Thankfully, the weaponry they were using was not electrical based, or they would be cleaning up a puddle of Blacklight from the ground. Cody darted forward, clotheslining a pair of aliens with his arms. He ducked under a flurry of shots and hurled an alien at a shooting group out of his reach.

"Stay down!" Cody yelled. He drop kicked an alien and swiped the feet of another. One arm turned into a shield, and he ran toward them, blocking the shots. He punched one in the chest, kicked another in the stomach, and slammed his shoulder into a third. Cody back flipped over two and slammed their heads together. The last ran towards the door. Cody shifted his arm into a long tentacle and reached out and grabbed the alien. "Fuckin' quit!"

"Um, you put him down Cody." His head snapped up and found Superman hovering above him. Cody dropped the alien and pointed at the Javelin.

"That kid can't fly a fuckin' plane." The Kryptonian looked over his shoulder at the trail of mangled buildings.

"I can see that." The Javelin's ramp opened and Flash walked out.

"I had everything under control!" The speedster protested. J'onn walked to them and picked up the alien Cody had dropped. The Martian's eyes glowed.

"I have John's location." The Martian said "it's that way." In the distance a huge building stood, dominated the skyline.

"If he ain't in there," Cody said "I'll shit a brick."

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"There is no excuse for this horror!" The prosecutor snapped. John stood on a floating circular platform, as the snobbish alien cut into him. His ring floated on another platform, just out of reach. Not that John was considering escape of course, but still, that was cruel. The prosecutor continued "And there can be no escape from punishment!" The alien raised a fist "An example must be made!" The masses roared in approval. Then, a loud hissing sound came from one of the curved walls. A hole was melted into the side and in flew Superman carrying Cody, who he merely dropped. The Leaguers landed in the court room and looked around. John groaned.

"Goddamit."

"Order! We will have order!"

"Is this some kind of trial?" Flash asked. Cody nodded, growling.

"That little fucker in white's a lawyer. I hate lawyers."

"Remove the intruders!" The aggressive judge roared. The orange skinned guards stepped onto round platforms and floated toward the leaguers. Superman merely pushed them off their platforms when they came at him. Cody blinked, and looked around him.

"Ya gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me. That was too easy." The Manhunters readied themselves for combat and Cody grinned. "Here we go! Round two, ya robo shit heads!"

"Wait!" Supes put raised a hand. "We apologize for interrupting these proceedings." Cody snorted.

"No we don't." Thankfully, he mumbled it.

"But John Stewart is our friend!" Kal continued, glaring at Cody.

"This _is_ a public trial." The feminine judge said.

"Very well," the passive judge sighed, "You may take seats in the gallery."

"But this tribunal will not tolerate any further outbursts!" The aggressive on snapped.

"Thank you, your honor." They quietly made their way to the seats in the front row. Cody scowled, and put his feet up on the railing.

"Bunch o' assholes." Cody said, leaning back on the seat behind him.

"Shut up Cody." Kal said, in a rare display of irritation.

"Gotcha, Scoutmaster." Cody pulled his hood over his eyes and fell asleep.

"Are you ready to call your first witness?" The aggressive judge asked.

"I am, my lord." The prosecutor turned. "I call Kanjar-Ro." An alien in blue walked forward. He was short, with scaly gray skin, and an almost fish like face, with large pink eyes and a long nose. He came to a stop before the bailiff.

"Kanjar-Ro," The alien began "You agree to let us probe and display any and all memories you have."

"I have nothing to hide." The shorter one snapped and stepped onto a platform, that took him to float in front of the prosecutor.

"State your name and profession." The prosecutor said.

"Kanjar-Ro, I'm" He sighed "I'm a pirate."

"A criminal? And yet here you are to bear witness to another crime. Why?"

"I might steal things, but it's nothing compared to what he did." The space pirate snarled, pointing a John. The prosecutor tapped a button on his console and a swirling blue light appeared on the ceiling. A beam came from it, and surrounded the pirate.

"Tell us about your encounter with John Stewart."

"It all started with these blasters I, uh, found."

_The stars streaked by the view port as Kanjar-Ro piloted his ship through space. It was a good haul, he was sure of it.__Not to mention that the rebels on Ajuris Four would pay him very, very well for them.__Several lights began blinking, and Kanjar-Ro almost threw his neck out trying to look out the window.__A Green Lantern flew next to his ship, easily keeping pace.__Kanjar-Ro pressed down on the wheel of his ship, and a red laser fired from the back of it.__John weaved around the beams, untouched.__The Lantern flew underneath the ship and ripped out the engine.__Kanjar-Ro's craft plummeted towards the moon of Ajuris four and crash landed, skidding to a stop.__John enveloped the ship with a green sphere._

_"__Who are you working with?" The human asked._

_"__Why don't you turn around and find out." The pirate countered.__John did, and almost shit himself when he found a pirate armada coming towards him.__He carefully weaved through the enemy fire and fired a few blasts from his ring.__The emerald beam slammed into the shields of a ship but was reflected back towards the planet.__It shot through the atmosphere and slammed deep into a volcanic field all the way down to a fault line.__The lava erupted, and took the planet with it in an inferno of molten rock and smoke._

"There were three billion on that planet."

"I have no more questions." The prosecutor said, and the white light around the pirate faded.

"This account is most disturbing." The aggressive judge said, "We will recess. Twenty petacycles." Everyone began leave, and the Leaguers stood, Superman kicked Cody awake, and they hurried to John.

"Ooo, I get it." Flash said. "You wanted to clear your name. That's why you didn't fight back on Earth."

"I told you to stay out of this!" John snapped.

"What the fuck kinda thanks izzat?" Cody snarled back. "We come all the out 'ere and ya get pissy wi' us?"

"That short bastard is a liar!" Hawkgirl pointed her mace at Kanjar-Ro as he left. "I want five minutes alone with him, I'll get what actually happened."

"Bats could do it in two."

"Will you people listen to me?" John yelled. "Nobody's lying, do you see that?" He gestured at two bright objects in the sky. "I did it. I'm guilty." Cody was the only one that had a response to that.

"That's some bullshit right there."


	3. We Need a Flashlight! Part 2

"No way." Superman said. The Man of Steel shook his head, "you couldn't have done this."

"Well, I did. Even though it was an accident." John gave a resigned sigh, and slumped. "This is the right thing to do. Even though it sucks."

"So, yer tellin me a Lantern's ring can blow a damn planet up?" Cody drawled. John nodded. "How the fuck izzat possible?" John shrugged.

"I dunno, I just use the blasted thing." Cody grunted and walked off.

"Come 'n get me when it starts back up." Hawkgirl huffed angrily, and flew away. The Manhunters grabbed John and hauled him off to confinement. Superman sighed.

"J'onn, you and I'll take a closer look up there. Flash, try stalling them down here. Cody and Hawkgirl will end doing whatever it is they does." The Martian and Kryptonian flew back to the Javelin, unaware that Kanjar had followed them.

"So what do you expect to find on this moon?" J'onn asked.

"No idea." Kal answered, as they walked up the ramp, "Something is bugging me about it. Just call it an-"

"An intuition?"

"Right." The Javelin flew off and the pirate raced back to the judges to finish his testimony.

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"John Stewart, you may now question your accuser." The aggressive judge said.

"No questions."

"None?" The feminine judge asked, in a surprised tone. Flash winced and looked at Hawkgirl, who paled. Cody scowled from where he had his elbows propped on the back railing. "Don't you intend to defend yourself?"

"I do not." Smirking, the pirate floated back down to the ground.

"I object!"

"Sit down kid!" Flash ran pell-mell down the steps, Cody stumbling after him.

"You call this a trial?" The Scarlet Speedster asked. "I say it's a big damn joke." Then he blushed. Cody snorted and stomped down the remaining steps, flooring a bailiff that tried to stop him.

"You ain't allowin' this man ta have his rights." Cody drawled. "That is bullshit where we come from."

"And who are you to question how we do things?" The aggressive judge said.

"We're his lawyers!" Flash said excitedly. Cody stiffened, and swung at him.

"I told you not to get involved!" John floated down to them and glared at them.

"Their screwin' ya over, nightlight." Cody said, as he decked another bailiff.

"They do have a point." The feminine judge said. "We don't want any lingering doubts about our final judgment do we?"

"Of course not." The passive judge said. "But those that speak for John Stewart will share his punishment."

"Ya gotta be shittin' me!"

"That's how we solved our lawyer problem." Cody frowned.

"But that little shit ain't dead." He pointed to the prosecutor, who sputtered.

"Details. Will you still speak for the accused?"

"Say no, you idiots." John whispered.

"Do you think I'm just gonna watch you play martyr?" Flash asked wonderingly.

"Shuddup nightlight." Cody growled. The marine groaned. _We're all going to die _he thought.

"We got this!" Flash yelled.

"I'm gonna throttle you when this is over, boy." Cody growled as both he and the speedster step onto floating platforms and flew up to the judges. "I call Kanjar-Ro back to the stand." Flash blinked and stared at Cody. The drawl, almost a slur, was gone from his voice and the slang that was Cody's trademark was non-existent. There was a different way Cody stood as well. Flash was stared at his friend, not sure where the change came from. Cody stood, stiff as a board, at attention with a neutral look. The fish eyed pirate stepped back on the platform, scowling.

"I've already been probed! What else do you want?" The pirate snarled, in an attempt at intimidation. Cody raised a brow.

"Have you thought about how convenient it is that John's blast just bounced off the deflector shield?"

"No."

"Think about it. The both of you, and the fleet I might add, were in orbit. _Well_ over half a billion miles from the planet's surface. How is it that a Green Lantern's ring blast is able to endure a reentry through the atmosphere?" The pirate blinked, opened his mouth, and then shut it again. Cody continued "Perhaps a weapon that was created in the civil war was used, or the planet's core exploded, much like Krypton?" He stopped, waiting for answer.

"My ship's scanners told me what happened!"

"And that was while John here was fighting for his life? While he was merely trying to do his duty? You managed to find time during the battle to check your scanners?"

"Yes!"

"Then if you are such a competent pilot, how did John manage to catch up with you? And you admit John was just doing his job?" Cody asked innocently. Kanjar-Ro blinked rapidly, trying to find an answer. He couldn't, gave up, and shrugged pathetically. "No further questions. Take over Flash." Cody floated back to John.

"Okay, well first, I'd like to say a few words about habeas corpus." The speedster began. Cody groaned. "And ipso facto! And five beta capa!" Hawkgirl face palmed and looked up. Then she noticed an empty seat in the bleachers. The Green Lanterns were missing.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Hawkgirl walked down the steps of the alien bar, ignoring the looks her wings drew.

"Waiter! Another round!" Galius Zed waved he/she/it over and the Lanterns watched as a platter of meats were served. She walked to their table, mace held loosely.

"Why aren't you at the trial?" She asked madly. Galius waved a dismissive hand.

"We couldn't stand anymore." The giant . . . head . . . thing scowled.

"John has disgraced the corps." Arkkis growled, his beard covered with scraps.

"And here I heard that the corps had nothing but respect and loyalty for each other." The Thangarian said angrily.

"Don't get high and mighty with us lady. If you're smart, you'll stay the hell away from him too." Galius spoke dryly and pointed his thumb at the door. "Leave us be."

"Otherwise, people will start thinking you're just like him." Arkkis growled, he raised his glass, took a drink, and the liquid soaked into the meat scraps on his beard as he ate a few of them.

"Cowards!" Hawkgirl raised her mace and slammed it down on the platter, knocking food everywhere. She swung at Arkkis, who merely blocked with his forearm, protected by the field from his ring. She knocked him to the floor, and Arkkis took Galius with him.

"Wait! Wait!" A small alien, with six tentacle-like limbs bounded to them. "No weapons! Please!" He begged.

"You think I need this to beat them?" She hurled her mace at a pillar and it shook as the head embedded itself into it. The little alien yelped, and hurried over to inspect the damage. Galius snarled, and the green aura surrounding the Lanterns faded. Hawkgirl beckoned them with a finger. Arkkis came first, roaring. She ducked his punch, and threw an uppercut to his chin. She slammed a left haymaker into the side of his jaw, gave him another uppercut. Arkkis flew across the bar and broke a table. Kilowag watched disinterestedly as Lanterns ran to Arkkis, and calmly sipped his drink.

Galius charged in next only to be batted aside and fly into a wall. Tomar successfully tackled her, but was kicked into a sign for the effort. Larvox was picked up and thrown at Tomar, to add insult to injury. Scowling, Galius heaved himself up and hurled himself at Hawkgirl again. Arkkis ran at her from the other side, they both ducked Galius, who flew into Kilowag's hand. Arkkis had a punch with Hawkgirl's full strength behind it land on his face. Kilowag did not catch him, and Arkkis smashed through the window behind him. Kilowag idly glanced through the hole at Arkkis made to make sure he was in decent condition.

Tomar yelled, and attempted another tackle. She punched him in the face. Larvox tried the same, and was punched in the stomach. Galius flew at her. Again. This time Shayera caught him and brought her own wings into play. She flew towards the ceiling, and tossed him at a wall. She landed, and Arkkis growled, running at her.

"Enough." A green wall appeared between the two of them and Kilowag stood, finished his drink, and then set the cup down. "She's right. John is one of us, and I'll be damned if I don't help him." They flew away, Hawkgirl angrily glancing back at the other Lanterns. Suddenly, she frowned, and squinted at the ground. The pirate, Kanjar-Ro, was talking to a Manhunter. _I'll need to look into that,_ she thought.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Have you asked yourselves _why_ about this rush to judgment?" Flash asked. He held his arms in a pleading gesture. "If the ring wasn't lit, you must acquit!" Cody laid his head down on the console of his platform, having given up hope. _If I die from the gas chamber, Stone will never let me hear the end of it. _He thought.Flash had been at this for at least an hour, and was very effective at stalling the whole damn thing down. "And furthermore-"

"ENOUGH!" The aggressive judge thundered. "You're just wasting time!" Cody carefully pressed the comm. in his ear.

"Will you two hurry the fuck up?" He whispered "We might have to make a break for it!"

"We're looking! Calm down Cody." Superman said in a soothing voice.

"Yer not goin' fast enough!" Cody snapped. He scowled, and ended the transmission. The way this whole damn thing was going, they'd be getting shot at before the day was done. Suddenly, there was a yelp below them.

"Get outta my way!" Kilowag shoved past a bailiff, flying toward the judges.

"Now what?" The aggressive judge snapped. Flash grinned.

"We have a surprise witness!" The speedster said happily.

"Surprise witness? He wasn't even in the same _sector _when the crime happened! What kind of witness can he be?!" The prosecutor snapped.

"A big scary one!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Clark and J'onn walked on the surface of the moon; both were protected by space suits and meteorites flew by above them. Craters dotted the surface

"See anything wrong here?" Clark asked.

"Were do I start? The massive death toll? The echoes of our own pasts?" J'onn spoke sadly.

"You're looking in the wrong direction." Clark gestured at the surface of the moon, "Down here."

"And?" J'onn asked. "It's the moon." He blinked. "The absence of the planet would have caused the moon to fly into the sun or outer space." Clark nodded.

"But it's still here."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"The Thorians would have gotten me for sure, but John Stewart pulled me right out of the building. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him!" Kilowag thundered. The hulking Bolovaxian had been giving a detailed account of John's character, which amounted to jack shit in court. Cody sat on his platform, feet dangling over the side and leaning against the console's post. His comm. beeped, and it jolted him awake from a cat nap.

"Wassup?" He slurred tiredly.

"Have them bring up a current map of the solar system. Now!"

"Gotcha Chief." Cody yawned, and carefully stood up. "Hey! Can I see where Ajuris four used ta be?"

"Look out a damned window!" The aggressive judge snapped.

"Please? I just wanna see a map!" Cody pleaded. Then he whispered "What am I lookin' for Supes?"

"The moon is still here!"

"Bullshit." He floated down to the floor, and took the map that an aide offered to him. He carefully maneuvered the viewpoint so that he could see the planet's former location. "Holy shit! Someone come 'ere and look at this!" The prosecutor scowled and floated over to him.

"What is it now?" He whined, before taking the map and frowning. "What am I seeing?"

"The damn moon is still there!" The prosecutor gaped.

"By the rings! It is!"

"Impressive. I didn't know we wouldn't be needed as soon as we got here." Everyone looked at the entryway. In floated five Guardians of the Universe. Krona led them, with an (almost) imperceptible grin on his face.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Clark flew across the surface of the moon, occasionally dodging a low flying meteorite.

"I hope you're having better luck than I am, my friend." Clark said. "I've only found craters."

"I have found something. But I don't know what it is." Came the reply. J'onn stood in front of a large . . . thing. It was easily over three hundred feet tall, and yellow lights came from it. The whole thing was hidden in large crevice. It was almost invisible from the air the upper edges to the crevice gave it cover. Suddenly, Superman was next to him.

"Well. That's interesting."

"It reminds me of an Illucitron, a toy Martian children had."

"What did they do?"

"They created holograms, or they made things disappear."

"And this is a giant one." They stared at each other. "You have got to be _kidding_ me." Clark stepped up to it, grabbed it, and began crunching the damn thing into a ball.

_Pew! Pew!_

A pair of blaster shots slammed into them. Kanjar-Ro flew past in his ship, firing on the cave wall. This caused a cave-in, burying the leaguers. Superman tossed the several hundred tons of stone off of him.

"Let's see them tell anyone now!" He flew away, chuckling. Blaster fire slammed into the cockpit's roof. A patrol fighter shot by him. Swearing, Kanjar-Ro tried to compensate. Another pair of shots slammed into the cockpit. And another. And another. And another. The ship spiraled out of control, only for Superman to stiff-arm it in midair. He held a car sized piece of crumpled metal in his other hand.

"Please tell me you're joking." Superman, still holding the ship up with one hand, set it down and calmly tore off the cockpit window. He grabbed the pilot, and held him up. "Now, what will we do with you?" The fighter and J'onn landed near him. Hawkgirl flew out of the fighter, wearing her specialized space suit that had wing sections and a holster for her mace. Cody, who was not wearing a suit, staggered out of the hatch as well, before grabbing onto a wing to stay up right.

"She flies worse than the Flash!" Cody groaned, "And she's got wings!"

"Quiet, you pansy!" The Thanagarian snapped. She walked to the others. "I followed him from Ajuris five," she explained. "We had to, uh, _borrow_, a fighter from the defense forces."

"She means we'll be gettin' a big damn bill from 'em 'cause they have alien insurance." Cody said, as he bent down to inspect the pirate. "What's this thing? Road kill?"

"Hands off Cody." Superman said.

"Oh, c'mon."

"Off, Cody." Cody scowled, and pointed at the scrap metal.

"What're we gonna do wi' that thing?"

"Empirical evidence." Superman frowned, and his eyes glowed gray. "How are you even talking right now?" In theory, Cody should have exploded the instant he climbed out of the fighter. Cody grinned, pleased that he had one-upped the Kryptonian. "And why are you here?"

"Trade secret. Flash has got it covered." Hawkgirl rolled her eyes.

"If I hadn't been wearing this suit, I would've suffocated. He kept sucking air in all the way here." Cody harrumphed in irritation, sticking his nose in the air. "I think it has something to do with compressed air."

"Says the chick who wore 'er own damn helmet, under another fuckin' helmet." Cody walked to the fighter. "I'm gonna take this thing back now, bye." He flew off. Shayera swore.

"And how am I going to get back?"

"We have a Javelin, Hawkgirl."

"Oh, I knew that."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Flash stood on his platform as every in the court room, judges included, stared at the planet that had flickered into existence.

"Is John free to go?" Flash asked sheepishly.

"He is." The aggressive judge rumbled. The metallic face sighed in relief. "My wife was on that planet." The face turned to John, and his cuffs unlocked themselves. "Your team has just proven she is not dead. My thanks." The faces faded and John stepped off the platform, rubbing his wrists. Cody swaggered through the door, punching a bailiff on the shoulder as he went. John held his hand up, and his ring flew to it, settling on his middle finger. Cody high fived Flash, and tapped fists with John.

"Has this bullshit been cleared up?" Cody asked. John nodded.

"Yes. Can I see one of those?" He pointed to the gun butts poking over Cody's shoulders. Cody handed him one, and John pretended to inspect it, before whipping it and performing a perfect double tap on Cody.

_Crack! Crack! Crack!_

Cody looked cross eyed at the hole in his forehead and looked down at his chest.

"Ya wound me." He said dryly.

"Learn how to mind your own business, dammit." John gave the gun back to Cody, who laughed as the holes healed themselves.

"Well, fuck ya too!" He wrapped an arm around each of their shoulders. "C'mon, we're headin' to the bar." The rest of the league landed near them, Superman and J'onn shook John's hand.

"Well, it's good to have this cleared up John!" Superman smiled. John rolled his eyes.

"Good Lord Boy Scout, what else would I be thinking?" J'onn's lips twitched upward.

"It is good that you have been pardoned my friend."

"Thanks for helping, all of yo—OW!" John pressed a hand to the back of his head, turning towards Hawkgirl, who held her mace in a reversed grip. She pointed the handle at the Lantern. Her glare was visible through her helmet. Cody grabbed Flash's shoulder, and dragged him out of the coming warpath. The Thangarian stalked toward John and grabbed the collar of his uniform. Her lips pulled back into a snarl, and John watched Cody and Flash take another step back. _Traitors._

"If you do something this stupid again, I'll wrap this thing around your head!" She yelled. "You had nothing to do with blowing a damned planet up!" She waved the mace handle, and John gulped, loudly. "It wasn't even gone in the first place! Ask for help next time, you stupid human!" She dropped him and stormed off.

Cody helped him up, sniggering. John watched Hawkgirl warily as she walked away, making sure she did not turn around to hit him again.

"Yer screwed, man." Cody laughed as he walked away.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"It is time, brothers." The Manhunters' leader's voice echoed through the complex. It was a blocky building, several hundred feet high, with sloping sides for easy aiming. A clear ring around it provided a kill field. Inside, Manhunters stood in orderly rows, each looking at their leader as it stood on a round pedestal so that it could see its subordinates.

"It is time to avenge over one thousand years of grievances." It made an encompassing gesture with its collapsed staff. "It is time to regain our power and dignity!" The Manhunters cheered, waving their staves in a vaguely celebratory motion. The leader raised a hand, and they fell silent.

"Our plan had worked flawlessly. But now we must strike while we have the chance. The team we encountered on Earth has ruined our plan and revealed the planet. Now, we shall attack Oa itself! We shall take that which is our destiny back! And then we shall have our vengeance! No man escapes the Manhunters!"

"NO MAN ESCAPES THE MANHUNTERS!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Would someone please explain why the angry robo shit heads wanna kill everything?" Cody drawled as they walked. They had left the courtroom and had begun walking to the Manhunters' headquarters. Kanjar-Ro had been left with authorities, despite Cody's sarcastic protests. The most notable of these was finding a dog big enough to use the pirate as a chew toy ("The look on 'is face was funny!"). Hawkgirl had explained what was happening, and had told them about the group of lanterns' opinion on the whole thing. She had also gotten the pirate to talk about why he had framed John, and his robotic employers.

"The Corps history mentions them. Vaguely." Galius hovered at head height, well away from Cody's feet. The rest of Kilowag's group had joined them, and the short alien had already been punted once. "They were our predecessors, but they were unable to see the grey area between right and wrong."

"So they were fired?"

"Er, yes. Yes they were." Galius eyed Cody suspiciously as he sauntered along. Cody glared back at him. With relative ease, Superman stepped between them.

"Cody, stop that." The Kryptonian turned to Galius "try to ignore him. He is just irritating when you get used to it." Cody muttered something and stormed off. Superman rolled his eyes, and turned back to Galius, only to find him talking to his ring.

"Of course." The ring flashed "yes, we are heading that way. Yes, they are with us. Understood." Galius looked at the Kryptonian. "The Guardians are at the Manhunters headquarters. They would like your team to join them there."

"Of course."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"We are too late." A guardian said sadly.

"We must return to Oa!" Another cried.

"Silence." Krona spoke quietly, yet caught their universal attention. "We have bent our pride already by asking for help. We must see this through." He said. "They are here."

The Leaguers walked through the door, expecting an argument. Instead, they were greeted politely and the situation was explained. The Manhunters, they said, was the original idea the Guardians had for keeping peace in the galaxy. And, like Galius had explained, they were unable to see the grey area between right and wrong. So they had been memory wiped and reprogrammed. But it hadn't worked, obviously. And now they were heading to Oa for revenge.

Cody had muttered something about "fuckin' space terminators" and walked deeper into the complex, before coming back laden with guns and bladed weapons in various shapes and sizes in a large sack. Kilowag had pounced on him, and they began arguing over who got what. It turned into a shouting match, until Superman had threatened to throw it all into the sun if they didn't shut up.

And now they were in FTL, on their way to Oa. The Lanterns and Guardians flew next to them, easily keeping pace. Cody sat with his feet propped on the console, hands behind his head as they shot through space.

"'S kinda disappointin'." He said. Flash glanced at him.

"What is?"

"Star Wars." Both Flash and Superman whirled on him, glaring. Cody idly glanced at them, and shrugged. "Yer lookin' at the real fuckin' deal out there. I kinda like it better than any damn movie I've ever seen." He pulled his hood over his eyes, and went to sleep. Superman pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. J'onn and Hawkgirl both had small grins on their faces, and Flash sniggered.

"This close." Superman said, holding thumb and forefinger about half an inch apart. "This close to throwing him out of the ship."

"Jar Jar Binks is an abomination!" Cody yelled loudly.

"That's it!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The air defenses at Oa were working overtime, trying to keep the Manhunters away. But, even with the highly advanced technology, they were slowly overrun by the Manhunters sheer numbers. The Guardians themselves provided power for the entire defense array, channeling the willpower of every being in the universe into the weaponry. Buildings around them crumbled, but they fought on.

"Keep fighting brothers! They are weakening!" The Manhunters' leader thundered. Blue and green beams filled the air, and threatened small alien children with seizures. The roof above the Guardians slowly melted, and blue lasers pounded the green dome the Guardians protected themselves with. "Kill them!" The leader yelled. Then he noticed a fighter speeding towards them, and Green Lanterns and Guardians surrounded it. "They will not stop us! Kill them all!" With a yell, Cody dove out of the Javelin, and the League followed him. He drew the guns from his back and opened fire.

"Eat lahzarrs beotches!" Superman punched robots out of the air, and Flash was running at Mach four, vibrating through them. John and the Lanterns hacked through them with green constructs, getting revenge for the trespasses the Manhunters had inflicted. Hawkgirl's mace flashed and sparked as she pounded through them. J'onn phased though them, scrambling their electronics. The Guardians fired green beams from their hands, protecting their brethren. Cody pulled the triggers.

_Click. Click._

"Shit." Cody flipped out of the way and barely missed being fried. Flash sprinted up the wall, and got clocked by a piece of steel when he wasn't looking. John landed in front of him, and used a constructed wall for protection. Cody slammed into the wall next to them, and began looking Flash over for any wounds. "God dammit boy! Keep your head in the game!"

Above them, Lantern's wall was becoming swiss cheese. The Manhunters above them suddenly exploded as green constructs tore through them. John turned, and found Hawkgirl leading the charge as the other Lanterns flew, each alive with the radiation from their rings. With a battle cry, Hawkgirl slammed her mace into a turret's barrel, breaking it. Kilowag and Galius hacked off whole sections as they got rid the turrets.

In the building, the Guardians were on their last legs. With only a few of them left, the survivors strained to keep the barrier up. The Manhunter's leader cut through the green dome with his staff, and entered the main power battery's chamber. John followed him through a hole in the roof, and felt a laser slam into his back.

"Manhunter! Stop!" A green bubble came from John's ring, and surrounded the android.

"Never!" It cut through the bubble, and entered the power battery.

"Aww, crap." John groaned. Inside the battery, the android howled with pain as the willpower from every being in the universe molded it. Its red armor shattered, and it began to grow.

"I will have revenge!" It was glowing, and at least eighty feet tall. The energy from the rings and the Guardians drained into the green behemoth's body, even the glow in John's eyes dimmed. With a groan of pain Krona fell to the floor.

"Do something, you blasted human!" The Guardian moaned. John gently laid him on the floor and stood.

"Yessir." He pooped his neck and walked to the power battery. "In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's might, beware my power, **GREEN LANTERN'S LIGHT!**" The entire being slowly drained into John's ring, and he felt the radiation from the ring settle into his bones, like a broken in pair of jeans. He fired a huge beam into space, and in the process, made the most epic fireworks display that would ever be created.

"Woot! Woot!" Cody hollered. "Represent for the Corps!"

Inside, the Guardians stood now glowing green once more. "Chosen wisely, as always." Krona said. "Thank you, for saving our lives."

Outside, Cody dug though a pile of broken robots.

"Aha! Found one!" He held a collapsed stave in his hand. Having recovered the guns he had brought with him, Cody had decided to find a second staff for his collection.

"Your one hell of a fighter lady." Galius said.

"Shut up Galius, my face still hurts." Arkkis growled as he rubbed his jaw. The Lanterns laughed, but Hawkgirl saw John emerge from the smoke above. He flew the ground and the Lanterns hurried to him.

"Atta boy, John!" Kilowag thundered, patting him on the back.

"I'm already eating my feet, human" said Galius "you shut up." John glared at them, and stormed past to the Leaguers.

"Are you well John?" J'onn asked.

"You had my back, even when I was sure I was guilty, why?" The marine asked. Cody wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

" 'Cause that's what bros do, _bro_." Cody said, then he shoved the staff in John's face. "How the hell does this thing work?" John raised his ring and enveloped them all in a green bubble.

"How about I tell you on the way, alright?"

"Sounds good ta me." They flew off into space, leaving no trace that they were there.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"So, the readings were accurate." Scar stated. Krona glanced toward her. They stood on one of the last parapets remaining after the battle.

"Yes, the humans have a Grayed One among them." Krona shrugged. "However he got here is none of our concern, and he will reveal himself when it is necessary. That is their way." He turned toward her. "Do not approach him. I know how you are with seizing every advantage possible, but it will only lead to conflict if you try to force something out of one of them. We'll find you with your throat cut open in bed."

"Do you speak from personal experience?" She asked

"Yes."


End file.
